Contributed by Susan & Tara Griffin
Susan Griffin’s story begins in Tralee, County Kerry, where her father grew up as one of six children on Jones Street. Her mother was the third of ten siblings, born into a family deeply rooted in both Irish and military traditions.
On Susan’s maternal side, the Boyces hailed from County Limerick. Paddy Boyce, Susan’s maternal grandfather, served in the army, and of his seven sons, three would follow his path. One of those sons, Jimmy Boyce, joined the Irish Army and took part in the Siege of Jadotville during the Congo Crisis in the 1960s. After his service, Jimmy returned to Limerick to care for his disabled brother, Joseph.
Susan’s mother Elizabeth was born in an Army barracks in Cork and, like many of her siblings, left Ireland in the 1950s, seeking new opportunities in England. Susan’s mother and father first moved to Bristol with her sister before settling in London, where she met Susan’s father at the Galtymore Dance Hall. Susan’s father worked as a painter and decorator, while her mother, before having children, worked as a cleaner and had a brief stint in a mental hospital—a distressing experience that she quickly left behind.
Her mother loved life in London and had no desire to return to Ireland. Of her nine siblings, all of them followed her to England, with eight settling in West London. Susan’s mother and father didn’t court for long, marrying in 1955. Susan, the eldest of their four children, was born in 1959.
The children were brought up as Catholics, although they weren’t particularly devout. The family only attended church for major events like Christmas, weddings, and funerals. Susan’s childhood was filled with long summer holidays to Limerick, where her grandmother Mary Ellen would regale the family with vivid stories.
Growing up, Susan felt more Irish than British, but it wasn’t until her secondary school years in the 1970s that she fully understood what it meant to be part of the Irish community in London. The IRA bombing campaign in London brought negative attention at school, where her classmates mockingly referred to her bag as a bomb, leading her to stop bringing it altogether. However, as her father’s work came primarily from within the London Irish community, the family was mostly unaffected by anti-Irish prejudice.
Susan remembers her father wishing them Merry Christmas in Irish, though by the 1970s he had stopped using Irish. The Griffin family’s social life revolved around Irish clubs, surrounded by music and familiar faces. Her parents were not politically active and disliked the rebel songs that were often played. For Susan, those early years in London and the sense of being Irish yet navigating her life in England remain memories deeply rooted in her Irish heritage.
Susan’s daughter Tara went on to work at the London Irish Centre in Camden and is pursuing a PhD in Irish Pub Culture in London, following in this path.
Tara’s father’s family were Protestants, tracing their roots to County Armagh, where they had originally converted to escape the prejudice they suffered there. Though her father had grown up in the north of Ireland, he considered himself more English than Irish, wearing Union Jack shirts and rejecting an Irish identity.